Castles in the air

After a morning of housekeeping duties – including a surprisingly inexpensive shop at a nearby Lidl – we lunched on board before setting off to find a castle.  Schloss Stolzenfels, pictured below from the river, was our target:

Getting there involved two bus rides, into the centre, and then out again in a different direction. Given our extremely limited command of German, just getting there was quite a triumph.  What we had not anticipated was that the bus would deposit us at the foot on an extremely steep climb up to the castle – one had rather hoped for a little road round the back.

However there was plenty of time to get our breath back – it was half an hour or more until the next (compulsory) guided tour. So we had a look at the gardens, which were pretty, in an oddly Moorish kind of way:

Also the courtyard from the other side:

And the usually shy photographer caught on the terrace overlooking the Rhine.

Once we got inside, it was a bit of a disappointment: the original mediaeval castle was mostly destroyed in the 17^th or 18^th centuries, and the existing version is a 19^th century fantasy. Furnishings were to match! Not surprisingly Queen Victoria was said to have felt comfortable when she visited. The floors were wood, and we all had to shuffle around wearing giant felt overshoes – I suppose it saves on polishing. Photos were not permitted.

The descent was easier on the lungs but tougher on the knees, but we made it and a bus appeared within minutes, likewise with our change in the centre. So back to the boat, and a well-earned libation.

Tourism time

We took our friendly local ferry – just two euro a head for the crossing.

Then it was up the cable car to the enormous fortress on the hill looking over the river to Koblenz. On the way we got an excellent view of Big Eck, or Kaiser Wilhelm 1 – the original was destroyed in 1945 and this replica eventually erected in the nineties. (Scots fans of Oor Wullie will get the reference.)

The fortress proved moderately interesting – more so I imagine if you were a student of military architecture. Also it didn’t help that all the explanations were one language only – not English!

We eventually emerged on the terrace, which had spectacular views across to the confluence of the Rhine and the Moselle: you can clearly see the difference in  the colour of the waters from the two rivers.

Back down in town we spotted a few oddities:

And a mooring ring: strong enough for Saskia, I think.

Comfortable in Koblenz

Alexandra’s church was still closed when we sailed off down the Lahn, having an easy run back to the Rhine – the last couple of locks in company with a New Zealander and an Australian in a rather unusual motor catamaran: it looked very comfortable, if quite wide for docking and getting into locks.

Our final view of the Lahn was Laneck castle looming over the river:

Then it was another sleigh ride down the Rhine for a few kilometres, dodging blue boarding barges and finally shooting into the Rhine Marina on the right bank of the river, right across from here:

Fortunately a couple of hundred metres away a passenger ferry docks, shuttling back and forth all day. So after a decent lunch we set forth to do battle with Vodafone, whose website refused to take our credit card to replenish our wifi dongle.  As you can see, that has now been sorted out.

We also explored the tourist office and obtained a fair amount of information about things to do in the next few days. On Saturday, there is a major festival, with fireworks etc.

Like a Bad penny....

After three pleasant days moored up in Diez, we set sail this morning heading back towards the Rhine. The Lahn has been pleasant, but not a trip one would necessarily repeat. The highlights have been Bad Ems, Diez, and, of course, Limburg itself. But Limburg could more easily be reached by train or car, I think. The landscape on the river is fine, but not very varied – steep wooded hillsides climbing out of sight.

Anyway, we spotted another castle to add to the collection, though the light was wrong for a good pic:

The locks mostly worked well, though at one (this one with the goats)…….

…..one of the gates stuck. The hi-tec solution, when the three (male) technicians arrived in a van, was for the young, female, student lock-keeper to give it a good push, which she duly did!

Plenty of canoes on the river – this lot came through a lock with us, and we caught an arty photo through the port hole in the aft cabin.

Tied up at Bad Ems once more now: disappointingly found the Russian church closed again, though the priest said it would be open in the morning. Then we’ll go on down to Koblenz and make that a base for more sight-seeing, before we head across to Regensburg to meet up with friends from the US.

The train takes the strain

Last night we enjoyed front row seats for an excellent firework display. As darkness fell, hundreds of people assembled on the bank of the river by the boat – quiet, well-behaved, no drinking. Very impressive. The display was great, difficult to photograph, and afterwards, everyone went quietly away.

Then this morning, no surprises,  the train won out – although the walk to the station took rather longer than the train ride. Very efficient local railways, though the ticket buying system is not so efficient: the single automatic machine seemed to baffle three German ladies trying to buy tickets for themselves and two children. So much so that although we had arrived 15 minutes before departure time, they only managed to complete their transaction as the train pulled in to the station. So we jumped aboard without tickets, and since no inspector arrived, had a free ride to Limburg.

Limburg proved to be a delight: it is charming and lovingly preserved, so much so that you start to understand why the bling bishop wanted to spend so much on his palace. Even the post boxes make you want to write a postcard – almost:

We walked up to the cathedral (they always seem to be on the top of a hill), and found a service in progress, so had to wait to look inside. We found a nice view from the back:

After touring the cathedral, we needed a reviving glass of Riesling, and this bar obliged:

We reviewed various options for lunch: Limburg boasts a large number of Italian restaurants, which we avoided for obvious reasons, finally finding one offering local cuisine – which usually means plenty of schweinfleische (pork). We lunched well, and then set off by train again, further up-river to a place called Runkel, where there is a terrific castle:

The visit was well organized and interesting, if quite energetic: lots of ancient spiral staircases up the towers. But a good view from the top:

Germany is proving a revelation to both of us. The Germans seem well-adjusted, calm and content. The towns are far from crowded – of course, it is August – with traffic under control. Prices are significantly lower than in France. Tourism in this area is mostly domestic, and involves whole families – the children actually seem interested, not being dragged around whining for ice creams. Many people even take their dogs sight-seeing with them – and the dogs are well-behaved too!

Dazed in Diez

Distance travelled by water – zero.

This was a very pleasant rest day in Diez, which turned out to be much more interesting and attractive than we had expected. We set off to do some essential shopping, and found ourselves in the attractive market square:

All the houses seem to be old and timber-framed and kept in excellent condition:

We lunched at a café/restaurant in the market square and then treked off to the supermarket – with the trusty shopping trolley donated to the ship by Shirley many years ago in Besançon. Plenty of local wine purchased: yet to be sampled.

Then it was a bit of sight-seeing: here is an eager tourist breathing in!

It was quite a long climb to the castle – which is now a rather smart youth hostel – but the view from the terrace was worth it.

On the way down for a refreshing beer, we came across this blast from the past.

Lots of cyclists doing their thing, some in Lycra. We are not tempted to become latter-day MAMILs (too old?), though there is some discussion as to whether we should go to Limburg tomorrow by train or bike……………..watch this space.

Tucked up in Diez

No post yesterday because no connectivity. So two days to report. Thursday morning we devoted to sight-seeing in Bad Ems, and very much enjoyed it. We even came across a parrot in a window:

The place has quite a history – it was a favourite watering hole/spa of the Romanoff Tsars – Nicholas and Alexandra came frequently – and this was their summer villa (we moored just across the river):

Lots of others came too, and allegedly the insult by the French Ambassador to the Prussian Emperor that Bismark manipulated to launch the 1870 Franco-Prussian war took place here. How about that for erudition!

The town also has a modern funicular that takes you aloft for a well-earned beer. We were able to check up on Saskia from the terrace:

Also get a good view of the Russian Orthodox church, with its gold onion dome.

After lunch we set off up-river, encountering rather more current than expected, and found a remote and fairly deserted harbour for the night. At least it had water and electricity, if no internet connection. 

This morning we set off again, and found another castle to admire:

Very little traffic on the river, except for people in canoes and kayaks – all heading downstream with the current, of course. Surprisingly they are allowed to go through the locks – something strictly forbidden in France. We arrived in good time at Diez - pronounced Deets – and found a place on a decent pontoon just under the town castle. However the bad news is that the next lock was damaged in floods, and will be closed for a year! That means we will not get to Limburg – at least by boat. However we plan to stay here at least two nights, and perhaps three, and we can make our way to Limburg to explore by other means.